Who Is Biggles?

Biggles was born in India in the year 1899. His father was the Assistant Commissioner of the United Provinces (now known as Uttar Pradesh). Travelling and living in the villages, he picked up survival skills at an early age. Along with his childhood friends, he had many narrow escapes (The Boy Biggles - 1968). At the age of fourteen, Biggles was sent back to England and went to Malton Hall School (Biggles Goes to School - 1951), where his elder brother Charles had also gone earlier (Charles was to die in action towards the end of WW I).

When the Great War broke out, Biggles made his way to No. 77 Flying Training School at Norfolk. Soon, he was posted to 169 Squadron to fly two-seaters. He managed to get himself transferred to 266 Squadron, and flew Sopwith Camels for the rest of the war. During his adventures at 266, he also met Algernon Lacey (Algy) - his cousin, the first of his lifelong companions ( Biggles of the Camel Squadron - 1934). He also took a break into espionage in the Middle East, during which he first met Erich von Stalhein, who was to become his implacable enemy for many years (Biggles Flies East - 1935). Late in the war he had an encounter with a girl named Marie Janis, who eventually turned out to be a German spy. Biggles was promoted to Major by the end of the war.

After the war, Biggles and Algy accompanied Biggles' uncle Dr. Richard Bigglesworth to South America, looking for lost treasures (The Cruise of The Condor - 1933). After working in South America for a while, Biggles and Algy flew back to England via the Pacific and Asia (Biggles Flies Again - 1934). While escaping from the villian Blackbeard, Biggles and Algy met Ginger, the second of Biggles' companions (The Black Peril - 1935). Adventures followed, including a visit to Africa (Biggles in Africa - 1936), a treasure hunt in the Caribbean (Biggles Flies West - 1937), and an assignment to form the Air Force of a tiny East European country (Biggles Goes to War - 1938), before they became involved in the Spanish Civil War and then the opening skirmishes of World War II. A few missions were also carried out on behalf of the British Government, these being initiated by his friend and mentor Colonel Raymond, formerly of British Intelligence. One such involved a visit to uncover a secret enemy base in South-East Asia (Biggles Air Commodore - 1937) - a region to be revisited many times later.

Biggles and his friends rejoined the RAF during the war, the first assignment being to raid Germany from a secret base in the Baltic Sea (Biggles in The Baltic - 1940). Two trips to Occupied Europe followed, before Biggles took over 666 Squadron during the Battle of Britain (Spitfire Parade - 1941). At this time he also met Bertie Lissie, who was

to become the third and last of his permanent companions. Later, most of the pilots in this squadron served in the Sahara (Biggles Sweeps The Desert - 1942), and in two assignments to South-East Asia (Biggles in The Orient - 1945 and Biggles Delivers The Goods - 1946) , before the end of the war.

Almost as soon as the war ended, Biggles and his three companions found themselves in the police force, chasing down former Nazis (Sergeant Bigglesworth, CID - 1947). Several more police cases followed, one being to Antarctica to recover lost gold (Biggles Breaks The Silence - 1949). A few trips were also made behind the Iron Curtain on special missions (e.g. Biggles Gets His Men - 1950 and Biggles in The Gobi - 1953). Another trip to Africa was to catch the Black Raider (Biggles And The Black Raider - 1953). On many of these missions, Biggles continued to come up against von Stalhein, who was now working for the Russians (e.g. Biggles in The Blue - 1953, Biggles in Australia - 1955, and No Rest For Biggles - 1956). Eventually, von Stalhein was imprisoned by his employers, and rescued by Biggles from a Soviet prison, thus ending their long enmity. (Biggles Buries a Hatchet - 1958). Air Police cases continued to take Biggles and his friends both around Britain (Biggles And The Poor Rich Boy - 1960, Biggles Takes it Rough - 1963, Biggles And The Dark Intruder - 1967) as well as overseas (Biggles Goes Home - 1960, Orchids For Biggles - 1962, Biggles And The Blue Moon - 1965). Almost all of the 65 books published after the war deal with Air Police cases and special missions.

Biggles was reunited with another long-lost friend when he and von Stalhein worked together to rescue Marie Janis from behind the Iron Curtain (Biggles Looks Back - 1965). Several Air Police adventures followed, including his last overseas assignment (Biggles And The Little Green God - 1969), before the last one, Biggles Sees Too Much, appeared in 1970. Biggles Does Some Homework, was the unfinished book that Johns was working on when he died in 1968 and this was finally published in a limited number in 1997.

Biggles and Me

Biggles was my childhood hero. The air adventures of Biggles gave me a hunger for reading and taught me most of the geography that I know, they gave me an interest in aviation and a strong sense of good and bad, right and wrong. In simple terms he was a hero and if it was good enough for Biggles then it was good enough for me. Some people follow James Bond as their hero, but for me there was only ever one - Biggles! Indeed, my "grail' watch was born out of my affection for Biggles, as it is the watch I believe he would be wearing if he were alive today - a Breitling Navitimer! For the fuller picture warts and all read up on him at Wikipedia - Biggles at Wikipedia.

PS and never forget Algy, Ginger and Bertie.

Biggles.Com

www.biggles.com A wonderful site showing the front covers of all The Biggles Books on the opening page. Click on any book to read a resume of each book. A simply delightful site for any lover of Biggles.

Biggles Forum

A forum about flying hero James C Bigglesworth (known to his friends as Biggles) and all the creations
from the books of Captain W.E. Johns. Talk about any subject: books,
reading, writing, collecting, aircraft, model making, media, life, etc.